Figure wheeled toy



Sept"! 1927' J. J. BECKER 1 7 FIGURE WHEELED 'ToY Filed Feb. 21, 1927 ylrl llllllllllll I NVENTbR, JJfle 0756;;

A TTORNE Y.

Patented Sept. 27, 1927.

UNITED sTAres PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. BEGK'ER, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

FIGURE WHEELED TOY.

Application filed Feb'r'uary 2 hiy invention relates to toys, anid rnore particularly to a toy comprising a carriage having ground wheels thereon and means for transmitting motion from the ground engaging wheel to a rotor or series of rotors supported by the carriage, so that by pulling the toy over the ground or other supportingsurface' a; whirling motion 1s enpartedj to the rotors to produce an attractive and pleasing device. U r I g It is an object of my invention to produce a device of this character which can be very Strongly and durably made and in which there are relatively few parts, which are of uniform construction, and which can therefore be produced in great quantity at a very small cost. I

Itis a further object of myinvention to reduce the greater portion of my device rom sheet .I'neftal, so that in the manufacv turi-ng of the same the operations necessary can be performed in avery inexpensivemann'e'r by stamping or other sheet metal operations which arewell known, to the trade.

A still further objeot ofthe present invention is to provide a device of present character in which the various parts are all permanently attached, ,so that there no opportunity or possibility of the same becoming disengaged, broken or lost. L

Other objects and advantages ofthe pres ent invention will appear asthe description proceeds, and this description given in connection with theaccompanying drawings forming part hereof, and which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my r ven tion with portions of the same broken away to show the drive mechanism. H

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional viewtaken' on or about the'center of the carriage and looking toward the front end of the same.

Figs. 3A, and S are modified forrns of the I rotor which may be interchangeably used in my invention. V p g Referringto the drawings, ljprovide a carriage 1 which is provided with ground engagingwheels 2 and 3 at front and rear ends of the carriage respectively. These ground, engaging wheels are supported; on squared axles lso thatby rotating the wheels the vaxles are also caused to rotate.

Permanently secured to each side of the carriage and at approximately the center thereof,-I,provid spaced inverted V jshaped brackets 5 which ay be of sheet, metal or other suitable material, andthese brackets 5' a 1, 1927. Serial No. 170,013.

are securedto' the side walls of the carriage by means of rivets or other fastening ineans 6, so that a permanent streng durable construction of this part of the iriveritiori is provided. v I v I In orderto prevent tilting of the spaeed brackets 5 toward or away from each other, I provide an integrally attached webportio'n 7 whichis bent at right angles to the brackets 5 and extends over the top' of the carriage 1, and at the lower end bf the web portion 7 I provide a tongue 8 which is adapted t(" pass through slots in the top of the carria e and to be bent so as to engage the lower face or the topof the carriageand to be secured thereto by soldering or other suitable means. this Way lateral supportis provided for the V-shaped brackets 5" so that fie tilting or thereof canoc cur I H r The uppfe" ends of the V-ishap'edbra'ckts 5 are provided with squared openings, 9 adapted to receive squared; shaft 10: and on which a" plurality of rotors 11 are lhosely mounted. These eater-e consist of hiibis 12 and a series of radially extending ball ended arms 18, whiehhave their inner endssecured sockets 1 L spaced at equal distances around the periphery of, the hub, so that assembled the rotor assumes the shape shown .in Fig. 1 of the drawings, which the radial arms are spaced equidistantly have at the Outer ends thereof the balls or other e1- largements. I v V In order to transmit motion', from} the ground engaging wheels to' the rotors 11 secured on the shaft 10,1 provide ag ar drive which consists of pinion 15 permanently attached to the squaredshaft t the front end of the carriage whi'ch rheshes with a gear 16 secured at the, l wer} end of aeropeuing shaft 17 which amines diagonally from the carriage w a phint adjacentthe of the \l -shaped brackets 5, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 Thepropellershaft 17 ishld in pbs iti'on by means of a tongue 18 which is cut 'from the top ara e of the carriage 1 andis' bentdowm wa'rdl'yto' the position s own 11 Fig; ,1, and provided with an opening through whieh the shaft 17 passes. In order toj revert lengitudinal movement, pf t 17, Ipas's a cotter pin or like fastenin element 19 through he Shaft immediately ahb'vethe oners res t i thi m r e. s te nal q eme t pr ven ed, due is th rler one of the depressed are no parts that can easily 5 tended ball ended arms.

and the pin 19 on the opposite side thereof. It will be seen, therefore, that a permanent means for attaching the propeller shaft to the carriage is provided, and there is very little danger of displacing or losing any of the operating parts.

The propeller shaft imparts motion to the rotors 11 by means of a gear 20 carried at the upper end of the propeller shaft 17, which meshes with the two pinions 21 and 22, which are carriedv by the hub portions of the rotors 11. These pinions 21 and are formed with teeth adapted to engage the gear 20 and reduced shaft engaging portions 23, which are adapted to pass through the hub of the rotor and are spun over at the rear side thereof, so that these gears are permanently attached to the rotors.

In order to support the gear 20 at the upper end of the propeller shaft 17 in engagement with the pinions 21 and 22, I provide a U-shaped bracket 24 having openings therein through which the shaft 10 extends, it being understood that this U-shaped bracket 24 is loosely mounted on the shaft 10 so as not to turn thereon. At the base of the U-shaped bracket I provide an openingu25 which is adapted to receive the free end of the propeller shaft 17 so that the gear 20 is supported in meshing engagement with the pinions 21 and 22 and cannot be disconnected therefrom.

On the outer end of the squared shaft 10 I provide balls or enlargements 10 which prevent the squared shaft 10 from becoming dislodged from the openings at the upper ends of the brackets 5.

From the foregoing it is seen that a very substantial and durable structure is provided in which all of the operating'parts are of very simple construction and are so assembled that there is very little possibility of losing any of the parts, and in which there get out of working order.

The operation of the invention is as follows: The carriage 1 is adapted to be drawn over the ground or other supporting surface I by means of a cord which can be passed through the opening 26 at the front end of the carriage and by pulling the same along rotary motion is imparted to the squared shaft 4 which carries the pinion 15 in en gagement with the gear 16 at the lower end of the propeller shaft 17, so that the rotary -motion of the squared shaft 4; is imparted to the propeller shaft 17. This in turn imparts motion to the gear 20 carried at the upper end of the propeller shaft in meshing engagement with the two pinions 21 and 22, which are on opposite sides of the propeller shaft 17 Therefore, rotary motion is imparted to the pinions 21 and 22 and through them to the rotors carrying the radially ex- It is to be noted,

however, that in view of the fact that the pinions 21 and 22 are on opposite sides of the propeller shaft 17 the rotors 11 will rotate in opposite directions, and in this manner a very attractive and novel appearance is given.

Figs. 3, 4, and 5 show modified forms of the radially extending arms and by referring to Fig. 3 it will be seen that on each of the radially extending arms I provide a series of balls 13 which gradually diminish in size from the outer end of the arm inwardly toward the hub, so that an ,additionally pleasing and attractive design is produced. In Fig. 4 I have illustrated the radially extending arms as being provided with squared blocks, and on each of the flat surfaces of the squared blocks I provide suitable indicia or insignia, such as the alphabet, figures of animals, etc., so that in addition to the amusing features it may also provide educational features and be of instructive value. Fig. 5 illustrates another form of rotor which may be used and comprises a sheet metal structure in which the radially extending arm is made of sheet metal and is provided with an integrally attached enlargement which is of semi-spherical shape so that when viewed from the side it has the appearance of a complete ball, although in reality it is only a half of a ball. This structure allows a considerably cheaper construction, in that the entire rotor may be constructed of sheet metal and may be produced by a single operation.

I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of m invention, as well as several types of ro ors, but I desire it to be understood that I do not intend to limit myself to the precise construction as illustrated herein, or to the precise rotor as illustrated herein, but I desire it to be understood that I may make such changes in my invention as may fall within the terms of the present description and of the claims hereunto appended.

I claim: 5

1. In a device of the character described, a carriage, a plurality of spaced rotors carried thereby and adapted to be driven in opposite directions, and inverted V-shaped brackets secured to the sides of the said carriage and provided with means to prevent lateral tilting thereof and supporting the said rotors on the carriage.

2. In a device of the character described, a carriage provided with ground engaging wheels, brackets secured to the said carriage and extending upwardly therefrom, a shaft fixed in the upper ends of said brackets, a plurality of rotors on said shaft' adapted to rotate in opposite directions, and means for operating the said rotors. 3. In a device of the character described, a

llU

carriage, a shaft carried by the carriage and 7 having ground engaging wheels thereon, a

propeller shaft extending diagonally upwardly from the said shaft and having a gearv thereon meshing with the gear on the shaft carried by the carriage, spaced rotors supported by the carriage on opposite sides of the propeller shaft, and a gear carried by the upper end of the propeller shaft and operably connected to the rotors whereby rotation of the ground engaging wheels rotates the rotors in opposite directions.

4. In a device of the character described, a carriage comprising a top wall and supporting ground engaging wheels, brackets mounted on the carriage and having a shaft at the upper ends thereof rotors on the said shaft, a propeller shaft connecting the ground engaging wheels with the rotors to rotate the same in opposite directions, and a tongue depending from the top wall of the carriage and having an opening therethrough to support the propeller shaft, and further means coacting with said tongue to prevent longitudinal movement of the propeller shaft.

5. In a device of the character described, a

carriage having pairs of front and rear rotatable wheels, upwardly extending vertical brackets rising from said carriage, separate spaced rotors supported by said brackets, means between the rotors and operatively connected to the latter whereby to effect rotation of the rotors in opposite directions, and means connected between one pair of wheels and the first means and disposed between the rotors to rotate the rotors in opposite directions under the influence of travelling movement of the carriage.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. JOHN J. BECKER. 

